


it ain't easy to survive up in these city streets

by Spannah339



Series: Sun and Moon AU [10]
Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Brotherhood, Gen, Moon Powers Varian (Disney), also me? projecting onto Adira bc I too love my older brother?, it's more likely than you'd think, look i'm making the brotherhood content i want to see in the world, sun and moon au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:47:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25985359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spannah339/pseuds/Spannah339
Summary: It had been a number of years since she had seen him, but she knew Edmund well enough to recognize his son. He had grown up a lot from the awkward pre-teen she had known before she left, and she couldn’t help but feel a glow of pride for the young man.Far more interested now, she focused on the younger boy, taking a moment longer to recognise him - Quirin’s boy. His hair was a faint blue, and she distinctly remembered the young boy with bright coloured hair as he peered around his father’s leg.Interesting.
Relationships: Adira & Hector & Quirin (Disney: Tangled)
Series: Sun and Moon AU [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1823434
Comments: 8
Kudos: 109





	it ain't easy to survive up in these city streets

**Author's Note:**

> Zeeb is currently working on the next plotty thing don't worry it's coming! Until then, Adira time.

Running across the occasional traveller wasn’t uncommon for Adira. It was strange, how many people would just stop anywhere on a road, park themselves for the night and then move on again. She had joined a few - if they looked like they had interesting stories she might come up with some excuse to make herself known. It was nice, to spend the usually lonely nights in the company of others, even strangers. 

More often, she simply observed, making sure they wouldn’t be a threat to whatever other travellers she had seen or nearby towns, slipping back into the night to wherever she had made her own camp. 

This time, she was surprised to see the camp consisted of two boys, seemingly on their own. She stood in the shadows away from the fire the older one was making, watching them. It wasn’t until the older boy - young man, really - looked up from the fire that she recognised him. 

It had been a number of years since she had seen him, but she knew Edmund well enough to recognize his son. He had grown up a lot from the awkward pre-teen she had known before she left, and she couldn’t help but feel a glow of pride for the young man. 

Far more interested now, she focused on the younger boy, taking a moment longer to recognise him - Quirin’s boy. His hair was a faint blue, and she distinctly remembered the young boy with bright coloured hair as he peered around his father’s leg. 

Interesting. 

The boys seemed to be on their own, watching for a few moments Adira saw no sign of any adults. She leaned against a tree, watching as they laughed together about something and a slight smile twitched on the corners of her mouth. 

She had never thought Quirin bringing the boy back was a good idea - she had tried to tell him that, but he refused to listen. Not that there had been any other option once he had returned. 

As much as respected - and yes, liked - Edmund, she couldn’t stomach the way he had treated the boy. In the few days after Quirin had returned and before she had left, she had heard enough about control and opals and the prince’s destiny to make her stomach churn. When the chance came to leave, to seek out the sundrop, to see if it had any link to what Varian whispered about, she had jumped at it. 

Part of her felt guilty at leaving the boys behind, leaving Quirin and Hector to deal with Edmund’s wild plans, but part of her couldn’t bear to return. It was stifling there, the black rocks, the whispered secrets, the children who were seen and not heard. 

Clearly, the young prince had thought the same. She moved to slip back into the shadows, determining to keep an eye on the boys as they went. 

~*~ 

“Adira, welcome home. Have you any news?” 

“This and that - did you know that Vardaros is hosting the Challenge of the Brave this year?” 

“About the sundrop.” 

“Oh, that. Nah, I’ll find it one day. Thought I’d see how you old fuddy-duddies were going.” 

“You haven’t seen the prince, have you?” 

“Prince? No, what’s happened to him?” 

“He left - and he stole the Moon Child.” 

“Oh, _unfortunate_. Well, I’ll keep an eye out. Can't say long, lots to see, lots to do." 

~*~ 

The raccoon spotted her. The boys were both sleeping (which, frankly, was never a good idea when camping on the side of the road, but they were still new to this, Adira knew) but the raccoon was curled up on the prince’s head, clearly not as asleep as she thought he was. They were as bad as Hector, really, adopting a stray animal. 

The raccoon’s eyes narrowed as he caught sight of her, slipping into the clearing of the camp. She paused, holding up a hand, lowering the bag she was carrying. 

She had found the boys again a few days ago and had trailed them for a while, picking up a little on their conversations. They were beginning to get lost, losing their way in the vast forest. Not to mention Adira could tell their supplies wouldn’t last for much longer. 

She was still reluctant to make herself known to them. She didn’t want to get dragged back into the moon opal problems - she enjoyed her freedom, enjoyed hunting for the sundrop, if it even existed. Not to mention, the boys may not remember her - or may, and react badly to her presence. 

Instead, she kept an eye on them from a distance. Protected them when need be - the bandit camp they would have stumbled on that day had been routed long before they were even near it. 

Now, she stood at the edge of the clearing, hands held out in a placating gesture as the tiny animal _glared_ at her. 

“Here,” she hissed, pulling an apple out of the bag and tossing it towards him. He frowned, leaping off Eugene’s head and bounding towards it. Satisfied he wasn’t going to raise the alarm, Adira dropped the bag near the edge of the camp where they would easily see it in the morning. 

“Don’t tell them anything,” she whispered to the raccoon as he crunched happily on the apple. He blinked up at her and flicked his tail and she smiled, slipping back into the shadows. 

~*~

_Once the chaos settled and she knew Quirin and Ulla had actually left, taking their newborn son with them, Adira found Hector exactly where she expected. The rafters in the roof of the hall of the ancestors had been their spot for years, high above the stone of the hall._

_Sure enough, a glance into the darkness and she could spot his dark figure. It didn’t take long for her to bound up the wall, settling onto the wood beside him._

_He acknowledged her with a grunt, shifting slightly to make room for her, crouched on the beam with one hand resting beside him._

_“So,” she said as a greeting, shifting into a semi-comfortable position (she was getting too old for all this climbing.)_

_(No she wasn’t, it was too fun)._

_“What’d you think?” she asked. Hector shrugged, looking down at the stone floor below them._

_“Quirin’s a fool,” he said. Adira raised an eyebrow._

_“You really think that?”_

_“He should have fought harder to stay. Who knows what will become of the boy now - he belongs near the opal that gave him life.”_

_“I don’t know…” Adira said slowly. Part of her was glad Quirin had left, had taken his son with him. “Maybe it was for the best - you heard Edmu-”_

_She was cut off by the door opening and a small voice, speaking quickly. They both quieted, confident from long years of experience no one would notice them up here so long as they made no noise._

_“...they going to come back?”_

_The prince’s clear young voice drifted up to them and Adira could make out Edmund, walking quickly through the hall, Horace trailing behind._

_“They’ve left,” Edmund said shortly._

_“But are they coming back again?” the prince asked._

_“No - I don’t think they will be.”_

_“Why not?”_

_“Quirin disobeyed me,” Edmund said, stopping almost directly underneath Hector and Adira. “He disobeyed me and had to leave because of it.”_

_“If I disobey you will I have to leave?” Horace asked, crossing his arms and glaring up at his father. Adira sucked in a breath, somewhat surprised at his pluck, winching slightly that he needed to ask._

_“You belong in the Dark Kingdom, son,” Edmund said, and Horace nodded._

_“So do Quirin and Ulla! And they have a baby now - he’s real cute!”_

_“I’ve had enough of this conversation, Horace,” Edmund said, sounding tired. For once, Adira didn’t have much sympathy for him._

_“But -” the prince began, but a glare from his father shut him up. He sighed, nodded sadly and turning to leave. Edmund shook his head and continued on his path through the hall._

_Once they were alone again, Adira turned to Hector._

_“You still think the Dark Kingdom is a good place for a kid to grow up?” she asked. Hector snorted._

_“We turned out alright,” he said and Adira barked a laugh._

_“Did we?” she asked. Hector inclined his head, acknowledging her point. They were silent for a long moment, comfortable in each other’s presence._

_“He’ll bear watching,” he said finally, and Adira knew her brother well enough to know he meant the prince needed more than just watching - he needed someone in his corner._

_“Yeah, he will,” she agreed quietly._

~*~

Vardaros was annoying. Adira would much rather bypass it completely, but she hadn’t checked in on the boys for a while now and figured it was about time. They seemed to have a base of sorts in the city, working with those employed by the Baron - something Adira wasn’t sure she liked. 

She leaned against the wall of a building, idly eating an apple as she watched a few inhabitants of Vardaros go about their lives. No one paid her any attention and that was just how she liked it, invisible, untouchable. 

“Ruddiger, wait!” 

The raccoon bounded around the corner and glared up at her. Adira glared back, swallowing her mouthful and taking another bite without breaking eye contact. He gave a small screech that was cut off by two small arms wrapping around him. 

“Ruddiger! Stop it,” came the young voice of Varian as he picked the raccoon up. With a small hiss in Adira’s direction, Ruddiger settled around Varian’s shoulders. “Sorry,” Varian said, looking up at her. “He’s not usually like this, I don’t know what’s got into him.” 

He was growing up, Adira noted. He was much more confident than he had been, and she felt a hum of satisfaction at that. But there was something else, a sense of sadness, a loneliness she recognised. 

“No problem, kid,” she said, tossing the apple to her other hand. “Something on your mind.” 

The boy blinked, looking up at her and suddenly Adira was reminded so strongly of Quirin she felt a rush of loss. She missed him - how could she not? She missed them all, and while she loved being free and having no orders to follow, she missed her family with an ache. 

“It’s nothing,” Varian muttered, scuffing his foot like Quirin used to do. Adira grinned, crouching to be level with him. (He really was short - he got that from Ulla. She was always small.) 

“You sure?” she asked. She held out the remains of the apple for the raccoon and he hurriedly took it, glaring at her the whole way. 

Varian sighed, wrapping one arm around his body and looking down. 

“It’s just that… My brother, he’s… I don’t know, he’s always busy, or with Stalyan, or… Oh, it’s nothing.” He turned away and _wow_ he must be lonely if he had actually poured out his heart to someone who was virtually a stranger. 

“Big brother’s first girlfriend?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. He nodded, looking up at her with a slight grin in eyes (and _that_ came from Ulla). “I get’cha, kid. When my older brother started dating he was _the worst_ . All mopey after her, and _busy_ all the time.” She waved a dismissive hand in the air. 

(It _had_ sucked, until Quirin had figured it out. They’d done everything together since they had started training for the Brotherhood. The three of them, Adira, Quirin and Hector, they had always been together. And then Ulla had come alone and suddenly Quirin was busy and Adira felt a little adrift.)

(Must be even worse for Varian, who didn’t have anyone else. And Ulla had settled in, fitted with the rest of them perfectly until Adira saw her as a sister as much as she saw Quirin as a brother (and her heart ached every time she thought of Ulla, of what she had left behind) but Stalyan was different, a bad influence, and if Adira didn’t want to leave the boys to figure out their own path she would have words with the young woman). 

“Don’t lose faith in him,” she said, standing. “I’m sure he loves you, he’s just being a knucklehead and too caught up in his emotions. He’ll come round.” 

“You think?” Varian asked, and the waver in his voice made Adira ache. He was too young for this, too young to be fighting to survive, to be thieving and worried about his next meal. Too young to be dealing with loneliness and loss. 

She was going to have a long talk with Quirin the next time she saw him. 

And Edmund. 

Probably a longer talk with Edmund. 

“Sure,” she said, flashing a grin at the boy. “See you around.” And she left, slipping into the shadows and leaving Varian behind. 

Every time it was getting harder to leave the boys. 

~*~

_“Coming back was stupid, Quirin.”_

_She crossed her arms, glaring at her brother. She couldn’t deny it was good to see him again, so good to see him after three long years. But the longer he had been away, the more she decided leaving had been the best decision he had ever made - after using the opal to save Ulla’s life, of course._

_“I had no choice,” Quirin said. He was sitting on his bed, and he looked_ exhausted _. Adira didn’t blame him really. She sighed, pacing the room, trying to keep her voice down so she didn’t wake the child sleeping in the next room._

 _“Why didn’t you stay away?” she asked. “You know Edmund wasn’t going to accept you - accept the_ kid _back without consequences.”_

_“He’s showing powers, Adira,” Quirin said quietly. She nodded._

_“I know, I heard. Still stupid to come back.”_

_“What would you have me do then? Watch my son grow into powers that may hurt him? Or may cause him to hurt others?”_

_“You know Edmund is_ _terrified_ _of the Opal. He’s terrified of your_ son _, Quirin.” She sighed, stopping in front of him and running a hand down her face. “He’s liable to do something we’ll all regret.”_

_“I won’t let that happen,” Quirin said quietly, but Adira shook her head._

_“You did the moment you came back.” She sighed, reaching forward to pick up one of his hands. “I don’t want you to get hurt - I don’t want the kid to get hurt.”_

_Quirin looked down, holding her hand a little tighter than was comfortable. He was tired - tired and still grieving, Ulla’s loss still raw. Adira understood, at least in a small way. The news he brought back had been a shock, and she was going to need a little longer to process it, to grieve Ulla in her own way._

_“I didn’t know where to turn,” Quirin said quietly. “So I came home.”_

_Was this place really home? Adira was only staying because her family was here, because she had nowhere else to go. In a way, she was the same as Quirin. But the dark rock walls, the secrets they held and the power they were supposed to protect felt stifling, like she was locked in a cage and couldn’t fly._

_That was why she had been so eager to leap at the chance Edmund had given her. He had pulled her aside after the meeting with Quirin and mentioned the sundrop - mentioned the connection the sun and the moon might have._

_She didn’t want to leave Quirin, not after he had just come home, not after he had just lost his wife. She didn’t want to leave Eugene, not while the prince was growing and needed all the support he could get. She didn’t want to leave Hector, leave her brothers to the dark halls without her. She didn’t want to leave Edmund, to leave her king and his growing madness._

_But she couldn’t stay. And maybe, maybe the sundrop had the answers. If she stayed, life would continue as always. Eugene and Varian would grow up in the same dark halls she had. If she found the sundrop, maybe they could have a future beyond the Dark Kingdom._

_She shifted, sitting beside Quirin and shouldering him playfully._

_“I’m glad you are home, even if it was a stupid decision,” she said, and he smiled quietly._

_She was going to miss him._

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I spent TEN MINUTES trying to remember the word for 'beams' only for zeeb to immediately tell me the word I actually wanted was 'rafters' first thing the next morning so that's where I'm at.


End file.
